West Side Story

 

West Side Story is the second film rendition of the classic 1957 stage musical inspired by another famous stage play, Romeo and Juliet. It is the story of star crossed lovers linked to rival high school gangs.

The plot was similar to Romeo and Juliet with a few differences that keep you on your toes. I never saw the 1961 version of this movie but realized quite quickly how many of the songs I recognized. The catchy soundtrack from the original version definitely transcended time.

I really enjoyed the beautiful dance chorography and costumes. The sets, hair and fashion easily transport you to the late 1950s. The themes around racism and how it's toxicity can infiltrate an entire city and how love and forgiveness are the keys to healing are still very relevant, even today.  

The cast is supposed to be high school age but the only person who looked even close to high school age was Maria played by Rachel Zegler.  Zegler did a great job bringing out the innocence and naivety of Maria. She and Ansel Elgort had good chemistry but it didn't quite get me to fully connect to their characters. I did like that they brought back Rita Moreno, from the 1961 film. It was a nice nod to her original role. Ariana DeBose, who re-presented the role that Rita played in 1961, did a fantastic job, stealing every scene she was in as Anita. She definitely deserved all of the history making accolades she received for this character. Regarding the rest of casting I appreciated their attempt at diversity with a transgender character and an Afro-Latina but I felt like they could have done more. I appreciated the realistic usage of Spanish throughout and everyone had fantastic singing voices.

This heartbreaking tale should have had me in tears but for whatever reason, it didn't quite get me there, as other renditions of Romeo and Juliet have done in the past. Even though this movie didn't trigger the water works, I still thought it was a well-made film.